“I Thought It Was a Grant”- Nigerian Man Left With N5,000 After N200,000 COVID Loan Deduction 6-Years Later

• A Nigerian man has revealed that N200,000 was deducted from his account years after he received about N378,000 through the COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility. He said he believed the money was a grant after his politician uncle told him it did not have to be repaid.
• The deduction reportedly left him with only N5,000 while travelling from Ekiti to Benue.
• Nigerians have since shared divided opinions, with some blaming him for failing to verify the terms while others argued that beneficiaries should have been clearly informed that the support was a loan.

A Nigerian man has narrated how N200,000 was deducted from his bank account years after he received about N378,000 under the Federal Government’s COVID-19 support programme, which he believed was a grant.

According to the man, the money was paid into his account in 2020 through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Targeted Credit Facility. He said his uncle, whom he described as a politician, had collected his account details and told him the money was government support that did not have to be repaid.

He said he subsequently gave his uncle the agreed N150,000 from the amount he received.

However, years later, the man said N200,000 was suddenly deducted from his account as repayment for the COVID-19 facility, leaving him with only about N5,000.

The deduction reportedly occurred while he was travelling from Ekiti to Benue, leaving him stranded and forcing him to stop trucks by the roadside in an attempt to continue his journey.

He maintained that he would have prepared to repay the money if he had known from the beginning that it was a loan.

The incident has triggered mixed reactions online, with some Nigerians blaming the man for failing to verify the terms of the financial support, while others questioned how beneficiaries were informed about the repayable nature of the facility.

@senior_man_alive: “So you people collected Covid 19 support from Nigerian government and you hid the update from all of us. I hope they deal with each one of you.”

@Fillipo_Saga: “Wahala no dey ever finish for Naija”

@Christiana74244: “The uncle too should be ready to cough out the one he collect too nah”

@Berriescakesss: “Alot of people are still paying that debt Nothing is free in Nigeria”

@Iphybest74: “Collect any ” free” tmoney from Nigeria government at your own peril!”

@swaagsphotos: “He is simply a liar and a thief like his Onku.. Don’t listen to anybody saying all this rubbish about the Covid 19 LOAN.”

@JamesSu19862228: “Na NELFUND I Dey pity They’ll pay with tears and cartarhh in their nose”

@EbukaTBH: “Nothing from this government is free bro.”

@EzeaniNeche: “Taking anything from the government, especially Nigerian government is a risk”

@Drzoeoluwatoyin: “A lot of Nigerians are actually experiencing this and I strongly believe they should have tell them back then that it was a loan and not a grant”

@DChronicleTales: “somewhere an uncle is smiling at his phone right now”

@storyrebuilt: “There is nothing actually free in this country.”

@abiodunjb: “So he thought it was free money”

@inkielab01: “This is why you should never accept financial assistance based solely on someone else’s explanation. Know the terms yourself.”

@officialladi_T: “I feel for him because he didn’t plan for this. I’m sure he had good plans for the money”